Page 13 of Unstable

The guy standing next to Roman spoke next. “I was headed south when she came from there.” He pointed toward her street. “The car hit the median and spun her.”

“Is that your car?” Shepler pointed to the Ford SUV along the side of the road, and the man nodded. “All right. I’ll need you to give your statement to one of the men.”

He waved over a patrolman, who guided the driver away, then Shepler turned back to them. “Let’s get out of the median.”

Roman extended a hand to Rina, then lifted her to her feet and guided her across the road. She seemed more stable now, but he kept an arm around her just in case. As soon as they reached the sidewalk, the wail of sirens filled the air, and red and blue lights flashed, heralding the ambulance’s arrival.

Shepler turned to Rina. “How are you feeling?”

“My head hurts,” she replied, “but I think I’m fine otherwise.”

“We’ll have the medic take a look at you. Do you want to do that now or wait?”

She gave a little flick of her hand. “I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, then. I’d like to hear your side of things.”

Rina shot Roman a quick glance then licked her lips and turned her attention back to Lt. Shepler. “I was just getting ready to leave, to go for a drive. I was in a hurry because we’d argued, and⁠—”

“What were you arguing about?” Shepler looked at Roman before turning back to Rina, whose cheeks had gone from unnaturally white to a soft pink.

“Roman didn’t want me to leave. I’ve been getting strange notes from someone, which is why they assigned a bodyguard to stay with me.”

Shepler glanced back to Roman. “I assume the authorities are already aware of this?”

Roman nodded. “Detective Traeger over at the eighth precinct has copies of everything. You can double check with him.”

Satisfied with that answer, at least for now, Shepler turned back to Rina. “Continue.”

She took another shaky breath. “I don’t know what happened. Everything seemed fine at first. But as soon as I got near the stop sign, and I pressed down on the brake…” She spread her fingers wide. “It went straight to the floor. I was confused at first, and I tried again, then realized my brakes were gone. The only thing I could think to do was pull the e-brake.”

Shepler made a few notations in a small notebook. “I would say you’re extremely lucky, considering how busy this cross street can be.”

“Believe me, I know.” A shudder racked Rina’s body, and Roman tightened his hold a fraction, silently lending support.

He snapped the small notebook shut. “Okay. I’d like to take a look at the car while the medics check you over.”

Rina nodded, and Roman guided her toward the ambulance. Ten minutes later, her scrapes cleaned and antibiotic ointment applied, they headed back over to where Shepler stood with two patrolmen. He turned toward them as they approached and gestured down the street. “You live right up here?”

Rina pointed to the end of the street. “Next to last one from the end on the left.”

“Mind if I take a look?”

“Sure?”

She sounded confused when she responded, but Roman knew exactly what he was looking for. “They’re checking to see if there are any oil spots in the garage from where it may have leaked.”

Roman looked at Shepler. “Mind if I drive her back?”

He wanted to get his truck out of the way, and he knew Rina was already stressed. The walk wasn’t far, but he could tell her adrenaline was crashing after the accident.

Thankfully, Shepler nodded. “I’ll follow you.”

The lieutenant climbed into the cruiser and followed Roman to Rina’s house. He got her settled on the couch, then showed Shepler to the garage. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw it, and he let out a swift curse. “Son of a bitch.”

Shepler knelt by the small trickle of golden fluid pooled on the concrete floor of the garage. Some of it had run down into the drain a few feet away, but it was obvious enough that a good amount of fluid had seeped out of the lines.

The lieutenant hadn’t yet said a word, but Roman knew he suspected the same thing he did. Coupled with the recent notes, it was too much of a coincidence that her brakes had suddenly failed. Roman made routine checks around the house, and it pissed him off that someone may have slipped under his radar. Until they knew for certain, he didn’t want to say anything to Rina.